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The previous government started a tender for the construction of the monument to A. Smetona, which was won by the project “622522”.
Photo by 622522 / Display of the Antanas Smetona monument
Construction of the monument was planned to begin in Vilnius next year at the building marked No. 13 on Gediminas Avenue, across from Vincas Kudirka Square, but the Vilnius City Municipality began to oppose it.
He agrees that the monument should be built, but another
On Wednesday, the capital city council adopted by majority a resolution “On the monument to Antanas Smetona.”
It states that the municipal council supports the idea of erecting such a monument in Vilnius, “which would highlight the importance of President Antanas Smetona for Vilnius during its reconstruction and, later on, would systematically respect Vilnius’ status as the legitimate capital of Lithuania. and the modernization of Lithuania. “.
But at the same time, the government is asked to suspend the execution of the results of the tender organized last year and not conclude a public service contract with the winner of the tender, that is, the authors of the project “622522”.
“Unfortunately, the municipality was not included in the competition commission, the competition was hastily organized,” Vilnius Deputy Mayor Tomás Gulbinas said during the council meeting.
“The previous government was in a great hurry to make the monument. Then we received very clear reprimands from organizations representing artists, <...> that there is very little time and therefore many people did not participate, “said the mayor of the municipality R.Šimašius.
Offer alternative locations
The Vilnius City Council is now requesting to include representatives of the municipality in the composition commission of the monument project, to allocate sufficient time for the presentation of the works of the competition.
According to the city council, in order to smoothly organize the process of perpetuation of historical memory in Vilnius, the constant participation of the city council in the essential stages of the perpetuation process must be ensured: the city council must express its willingness to
And if a competition is planned, it must be agreed on its essential principles and conditions.
In a resolution, the municipal council announced its commitment to consider and present to the Government proposals for alternative sites for the construction of the monument to A. Smetona within a period of two months and to oblige the municipal administration to participate in the bidding commission for the project. of the monument. .
The resolution does not contain an application or requirement to announce a new competition for the idea of the monument to A. Smetona, but council member Kamilė Šeraitė assumed it was applied for.
No one gave a guarantee that there will be another competition.
He asked if the Ministry of Culture and the Government agreed to do so and to allocate funds for the next tender.
“If there is no such response, I think we cannot consider such a resolution, because if we adopt such a resolution without a clear position from the Ministry of Culture and the Government, we will only oppose the public,” he said.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Kamilė Šeraitė
The mayor replied that he did not know if the Ministry of Culture and the Government would agree to start a new competition for the idea of the monument to A. Smetona.
“There is no promise and it has to be made very clear, it is not and probably cannot be.” But, in fact, I don’t imagine that the Ministry of Culture would say “we will not give money to A. Smetona, because Vilnius is committed to quality”. I think it would be very ugly here, “said R. Šimašius.
I do not imagine that the Ministry of Culture would say “we will not give money to A. Smetona, because Vilnius is committed to quality”.
He noted that this resolution is the official position of the Municipality of Vilnius on the question of the monument and project A. Smetona “622522”, as requested by the Ministry of Culture.
“If we do not pass a resolution and we do not oppose the disrespectful immortalization of A. Smetona, in case of failure, we will have a disrespectful monument to A. Smetona,” commented the mayor.
He claims that the monument is planned on the corner of the square.
He said that the monument to A. Smetonai must be modern.
“The self-perpetuation of A. Smetona must be modern, not 20th century. Modern in a sense, but contemporary,” he said.
And the location of such a monument, according to the mayor, should also be adjusted.
Although the municipality participated in the selection of the place for the perpetuation of A. Smetona and, according to the mayor, “the worst place was not chosen”, it is still not suitable.
Photo by Ernesta Čičiurkaitė / 15min / Remigijus Šimašius
“If it happened that a realistic monument stood in front of the central bookstore, we would not have a situation where the monument to the president is located on Gediminas avenue. We would have a situation where a monument to the president of Lithuania is located on the corner. from the square. V. Kudirka would stand in the middle of the square, and President A. Smetona would stand at the corner of the square, “taught R.Šimašius.
Domininkas Velička, a member of the municipal council, stated that the citizens of A. Smetona should be consulted with the citizens of Vilnius. And that, he said, was not there.
Expect Vilnius residents to participate
“I would think that the responsibility of the parties is greater than the artistic concept that the government artists imposed on us, they decided it, they built it. I support a resolution that could involve more people, more opinions and more respect, ”he said.
Previously, the Historical Memory Commission of the Vilnius City Council requested the Ministry of Culture to suspend the construction of the A. Smetona monument and the execution of the project “622522”.
Photo by Liberals Sąjūdis / Simonas Kairys
In response to the request, Culture Minister Simonas Kairys asked for a clearer statement from the official opinion of the municipality, not its municipal commission, on the monument.
The Ministry of Culture has allocated a total of 250,000 LTL to the Vilnius City Municipality for the construction of the A. Smetona monument. euros.
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